Meta's strong earnings report sent its stock soaring after hours. The company also made it clear that the AI talent wars come with a hefty price tag.

Meta’s artificial intelligence spending spree appears to be paying off with investors, who sent the company’s stock soaring after hours on Wednesday following a blowout quarterly earnings report. The Menlo Park,

Meta posted a second-quarter profit that beat expectations by a wide margin, and revenue that topped forecasts for a 12th-straight quarter, as active users, ad impressions and ad prices all rose. The company also provided a revenue outlook for the current quarter that was better than forecast.